China Now Ahead of US in Terms of Healthy Life Expectancy at Birth — 68.7 to 68.5 years
China and the United States are two of the world's foremost superpowers, and the residents of those countries can typically expect to lead long and healthy lives, thanks in large part to their advanced societies and industries.
For the first time, though, China has now come out ahead of the U.S. in terms of healthy life expectancy at birth, as per a recent report from Reuters.
According to the latest data from the World Health Organization (WHO), the average healthy life expectancy at birth now for Chinese infants is at 68.7 years, which is barely ahead of the United States' which stands at 68.5 years.
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Notably, this statistical development may be part of a larger trend.
WHO spokeswoman Alison Clements-Hunt told Reuters that their research revealed that the lost years of good health turned out to be lower for residents of higher income Asian countries, compared to what's been happening with the residents of higher income western nations.
Reuters also pointed out that the United States was one of only five countries where the average healthy life expectancy at birth for its residents went down in 2016. If that trend continues, then the narrow gap between China and the U.S. in terms of healthy life expectancy at birth will continue to grow and become more significant.
For the U.S., the dip in average healthy life expectancy at birth is a trend that has held over a few years now.
Way back in 2000, the average healthy life expectancy at birth for residents of the U.S. stood at 67.4, and it rose over the course of the decade, going up to 67.9 in 2005 and then hitting 68.7 in 2010. Since then, the number dropped slightly to 68.6 in 2015 and then finally ended up where it was in 2016 when the WHO conducted their analysis.
Breaking the data down further, the life expectancy stat in question for females in the U.S. for 2016 was at 70.1 years. That figure has held steady from 2010.
For males in the U.S., their average healthy life expectancy at birth has changed more significantly from 2010 to 2016. In 2010 and 2015, the number was at 67.1, but it then dropped significantly in 2016, going down to 66.9.
Both the U.S. and China are also up on the global average for healthy life expectancy at birth, which was at 63.3 years in 2016.
Now, in terms of overall life expectancy, the United States remains ahead of China in that regard — 78.5 to 76.4 — for 2016. Even so, the United States' lead there may not last for long as well, as the average life expectancy for people in the country has dropped since 2010, while it has risen for people in China over the same timeframe.
Life expectancy for males in the U.S. was at 72 years in 2016, while for females, the number was at 81.
Reuters' calculations indicate that China could overtake the U.S. in terms of average life expectancy in 2027.
Once again, both the U.S. and China come out ahead of the global average for life expectancy, which was at 72 years in 2016.
It's unclear when more updated life expectancy statistics will be provided next.
